Prairie View senior Parker Embry is interviewed by volunteer Paula Schwarz during the Prairie View Career Day on Friday, Dec. 6. Seniors participated in two mock interviews during the morning session. (Photos by Roger Sims / Linn County Journal)
By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com
Students at Prairie View High School were prompted to look beyond their high school years during the school’s seventh annual Career Day on Friday, Dec. 6. Members of the business community and recruiters from colleges and the military took part in the daylong event meant to get students to consider what they wanted to do after graduation, whether they were seniors or freshmen.
The day began with students gathering the district’s Performing Arts Center to learn about the school’s expectations for the day. Roll was taken in each breakout session to ensure students attended the presentations they signed up for.
In the morning sessions, people for all different trades and businesses talked about their line of work, including what training or education was involved as well as other job requirements. Simultaneously in the main gym, business people conducted mock interviews with seniors.
Colin Coronado, right, a recruiter from Pittsburg State University, joined representatives from several other universities and trade schools in providing information to students during the career fair.
Seniors were required to do at least two mock interviews for potential jobs, internships or scholarships, and that included handing the interviewers their cover letter, résumé, and references. Afterward, the interviewers filled out a critique of how each student presented himself or herself.
While those interviews were going on, representatives of a wide range of careers – including educators, park rangers, union and non-union pipeline workers, metal fabricators, automotive workers, an author, a cosmetologist, and an entrepreneur – met with students in small groups in classrooms. Presenters were asked to tell students about their typical daily schedules, the challenges of the job, and how they got into the occupation.
Ben Williams, from left, Dustin Lewis, and Max McCain answer questions about their careers in working for pipeline companies.
After the lunch break, students had the option of visiting the career and college fair in the main gym. Most of the representatives there were from post-secondary schools including Kansas State University, Kansas University, Pittsburg State University, Fort Scott Community College, Washburn University, Flint Hills Technical College, Wichita State University, and Neosho County Community College. The U.S. Army recruiter had a table there and so did two cosmetology schools – Z Hair Academy and PACE Hair Academy.
Heide Henderson with the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge tells about her duties as a refuge employee. Accompanying her was "Wally," a mounted specimen of a river otter.
Also at the fair were instructors from the STARS academy (Southeast Technical Academy for Rural Students) which offers both classes for students still in high school as well as those who have graduated through Fort Scott Community College.
The afternoon also saw offerings of life skill classes, such as how to do general maintenance on a vehicle, how to care for your pet, how to make sourdough bread, and what it’s like to run a small business.
September McCool answers questions about her work as a cosmetologist. She operates Skin and Strands by September in La Cygne.
Darren Snyder, left, watches as a student checks air pressure of a tire. Snyder, who volunteered to teach students about basic car maintence, said many of the students already knew how to do basic vehicle care.
Michael Bartlett, owner of Midwest Expressions, talks to students about what is involved in running a small business. His photography company takes individual student and staff photos and team photos for the Prairie View district.
Martial arts expert John Hatfield and his sister, PVHS science teacher Amanda Younger, demonstrate self-defense techniques during the life skills part of Career Day.
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